Patient's Desire and Preference for Provision of Information Toward Greater Involvement in Shared Care

OBJECTIVES: To determine the perceptions of patients on whether they receive sufficient information about their medical problems, their preferences to obtain information, and factors that may influence their preferences. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in a primary health-care center affiliated with the National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients attending the center between October and December 2010 were interviewed using a questionnaire developed to meet the objectives of the study. RESULTS: A total of 245 patients participated in the study. The mean (±standard deviation) age of the participants was 43 (±16) years. Reported cases of dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension among participants were 42%, 39%, and 31%, respectively. A minority of the participants indicated that they had a sufficient knowledge of their medical problems. The vast majority of the patients (92%) indicated that their preference to be informed about available treatment options and the plan for their future treatment. However, only 38% indicated that they had been told about the available treatment options, and less than half (48%) were informed about their future treatment plan. The proportion of male patients who preferred to know the treatment plan for their medical problems was significantly more than that of females (P < 0.001); nevertheless, female participants perceived that they had been better informed about their treatment plan than the male participants (P = 0.003). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that patients receive information about their medical problems much less than their expectations. Measures to promote patient education and their involvement in shared care process should be considered and implemented to minimize serious health outcomes.